COMPLIMENTARY DINNER 



STEPHEN N. GIFFORD, Esq., 

Clbrk of thb Massachusetts Senate, 



In Honor of his Twenty-five Years' Service in that Capacity, 
Given by the Members of the Senate during that Period, 



AT THE UNITED STATES HOTEL, BOSTON, 
March io, 1882. 



From a Phonographic Report. 



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BOSTON : 
PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS, 141 FRANKLIN STREET. 
1883. 




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COMPLIMENTARY DINNER 



STEPHEN N. GIFFORD, Esq., 

Clerk of the Massachusetts Senate, 



In Honor of his Twenty-five Years' Service in that Capacity. 
Given by the Members of the Senate during that Period, 



AT THE UNITED STATES HOTEL, BOSTON, 
March io, 1882. 



From a Phonographic Report. 



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BOSTON : 

PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS, 141 FRANKLIN STREET. 

1883. 



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OF THE FAITHFUL SERVICE OF A TRUE MAN, WHO FOR MANY YEARS 

HAS ADORNED THE TRUST REPOSED IN HIM BY EVERY QUALITY 

WHICH SHOULD DISTINGUISH THE PUBLIC SERVICE 

AND EVERY GRACE OF CHARACTER WHICH 

CAN AITACH HIM TO HIS ASSOCIATES. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Boston, Feb. 17, 1883. 
Stephen N. Gifford, Esq. : 

Dear Sir, — In recognition of your long and valuable service 
to the Commonwealth as Clerk of the Massachusetts Senate, and 
also, and not less, in the exercise of those feelings of earnest 
friendship and regard which so many years of delightful personal 
intercourse have engendered, the undersigned, a committee for 
that purpose, tender to you, on behalf of themselves and their 
associates, — members of the Senate for the last twenty-five years, 
— a complimentary dinner, to be given, if agreeable to you, at the 
United States Hotel, in Boston, March 10, at five o'clock P.M. 

Will you please inform us whether the time will suit your 
convenience, and oblige. 

Very respectfully and cordially yours, 

Robert R. Bishop, 

Joseph Bennett, 

Geo. G. Crocker, J- Committee. 

Andrew C. Stone, j 

Francis W. Rockwell, J 



Boston, Feb. 26, 1882. 

Gentlemen, — Your note of the 17th inst. is received; and, 
in reply, I assure you that I am deeply grateful for your very kind 
expressions of regard for myself personally, and for the generous 
estimation of my services during my long official connection with 
the Senate. 1 deem myself most fortunate to have an opportunity 
to greet once more the friends of past years, and I gladly accept 
the invitation so kindly extended to meet you and them at the 
time and place named in your note. 

Yours very truly, 

S. N. GIFFORD. 
Hon. Robert R. Bishop and others. 



DINNER. 



In response to the invitation of the Committee of Arrange- 
ments, over two hundred members of the Senate, from 1858 
to 1882 inclusive, and including members from each Senate 
during that period, sat down to the dinner in honor of the 
veteran Clerk. Hon. William Claflin, the senior living 
President of the Senate during that period in the country, 
presided. 

After the company had assembled in the dining-hall, 
the President invited Rev, Edmund Dowse, of Sherborn, 
Chaplain of the Senate, to invoke the divine blessing, which 
he did as follows : — 

INVOCATION BY REV. EDMUND DOWSE. 

Almighty God, we thank thee for this suspension of 
business, of burdens and cares, for a season of rational and 
healthful recreation. We thank thee that so large a number 
who have been associated together in public life have con- 
vened on this occasion to renew acquaintance, to strengthen 
friendships, and more especially to testify their respect and 
esteem for him who, for a quarter of a century annually, 
they have chosen to make a record of their legislative acts ; 
and, while we gratefully acknowledge thee, in view of his 
long, faithful, and successful service, we desire to commend 
him to thy Fatherly care in the future, asking that thou 
wilt grant him length of days, a competence of worldly 
good, all merited honors, and a final approval of thee. 

Grant that thy servants may go away from this occasion 
refreshed for the duties of life, and that we may ever remain 
loyal to the interests of the State, of our country, of the 



o^rcat human brotherhood, and to thee, the God and Father 
of us all ; and thine shall be the praise forever. Amen. 

After the dinner was concluded, the President again asked 
the attention of the company, and spoke as follows : — 

ADDRESS OF HON. WILLIAM CLAFLIN. 

Gentlemen, members of the present and past Senates of 
the State of Massachusetts, I meet you with sincere pleasure 
to-night for the purpose of congratulating you and our guest 
upon his quarter of a century of continuous public service 
[applause], an occasion which has never occurred in the 
past, and certainly will very rarely in the future. No pre- 
decessor of his has occupied his position for more than half 
that time. The gentleman who has succeeded in securing 
for twenty-five years the ballots of the Senate of Massachu- 
setts must be possessed of rare qualities [applause], of good 
sense, of thorough knowledge, and devotion to the duties of 
the position which he has held. [Applause.] 

Massachusetts has always had the idea of continuous 
public service, wherever she could find a gentleman that 
performed the duties of his ofltice to her acceptance. 
Evidence of this is seen in the town elections all over the 
State, where we find gentlemen holding office from twenty 
to thirty, and sometimes forty, years ; so that civil service 
reform does belong to the sentiment of Massachusetts. We 
are in favor of it. We* expect that our Senators in Con- 
gress and our Representatives will, to the best of their 
ability, promote it, until the subordinate positions are taken 
from the arena of politics, and men are left free to assert 
their principles and perform their duties in Congress 
without the pressure of public office driving them in this 
direction or in that direction. [Applause.] 

I only intend to detain you a few moments, for we have 
too many gentlemen from whom you will desire to hear ; 
but I must say in passing that there is no more agreeable 
public position for those who occupy it than a position in 
the Senate of Massachusetts. The body is large enough for 
active work, it is small enough for every one to keep thor- 



oughly acquainted with his associates. From its numbers 
have been taken men for all positions in the country. It is 
a high and honorable position, and every man who has had 
the honor to occupy it must feel gratified that the time has 
been when he could be one of the Senate of the State ; 
and he must look back to it, years afterward, with satis- 
faction. To be sure, the Senate is so pleasant a body that 
sometimes we think that our Senators, and also our Repre- 
sentatives, like to stay a little longer in the season than 
they have reason to ; and I am sometimes afraid that that 
reform which I have so many years advocated of biennial 
sessions has been kept back by this desire of our friends. 
[Laughter.] But I should not do them the injustice of 
saying this is so ; but I trust that this reform, which seems 
to me so essential to the politics of almost all of the States 
of the Union, will be as far perfected as it is possible for 
the Legislature to do it this year, in order that the people 
of this State may say by their votes at the proper time 
whether or not we shall have an annual or biennial session. 
[Applause.] 

In former times, when we met at the State House, and 
stayed some thirty or sixty days, it did not much matter, — 
the expense to the State was not a great consideration. It 
is not that which is our trouble : it is the trouble of sending 
you there, gentlemen, — the trouble of the long session and 
constant change of the law. These things should be 
altered. The time has now come, it seems to me, when 
this reform, so much to be desired, should be accomplished. 

But I will pass on to say one or two other things in 
regard to our State. Certainly, we must be satisfied with 
her prosperity and growth in the past. You are called 
upon at the present session of the Senate to apportion the 
State for twelve Representatives in Congress, — an encourag- 
ing increase, taking into consideration the small area of 
our State, our confined space, and our freedom from mines 
and other things of that nature that tend to add to the 
population of other States. It is a wonderful fact that this 
State should keep up its numbers in proportion with the 



lO 

other flourishing States of the country, — that, while the 
country has grown from forty to fifty millions in ten years, 
we have been able to increase our number in proportion. 
We are proud of the position which we hold in Congress ; 
and, to aid in the great discussions which have been going 
on in regard to the rights of certain foreign people, Massa- 
chusetts has held up her old ideas by her Senators firmly. 
And, to the honor of the State, they undoubtedly will sustain 
them to the end. [Applause.] 

Gentlemen, it is with the sincerest regret that I cannot 
bring to you to-night our respected Chief Magistrate, who 
is always welcome on all such occasions when the people 
are assembled. He has kindly sent a letter, which I will 
take the opportunity to read, showing his good feeling 
toward our guest : — 

Hon. Robert R. Bishop: 

My dear Mr. President, — As I stated to you, I am unable to be 
present at the complimentary dinner to Mr. Gifford ; but our Common- 
wealth will be represented by his Honor, the Lieutenant-Governor. 
I cannot forbear, however, to send my congratulations and e.xpress my 
respect for the veteran Clerk of the Senate, who has for a quarter of 
a century not only discharged the duties of his office, but endeared 
himself to a continually widening circle of friends. [Applause.] 

Sincerely yours, 

John D. Long. 

I can echo what the Governor has said as to his endearins: 
himself to his friends. For two years I sat by his side, and 
I must express what I have no doubt you all feel, that we 
are greatly indebted to him for his uniform kindness, and 
for the great pleasure with which he has attended to all our 
wants, and for his courtesy in all our intercourse in these 
many, many years. [Applause.] 

I have now the pleasure of introducing to you the Lieu- 
tenant Governor of the State. [Applause.] 

ADDRESS OF HON. BYRON WESTON. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen, — It is with a great deal of 
diffidence that I rise before you to-night, and take the role 



II 

that has been assigned to me. I have figured as a 
military man ; as a manufacturer ; like yourselves, in the 
Senatorial capacity ; but, as a public speaker, especially 
as one responding for the Commonwealth, my experience 
is certainly very limited. You all remember the story 
of the boy who said his father was a bank director, horse- 
dealer, liquor-seller, and also a deacon ; but he did very little 
business in the last line. [Laughter.] I can at least, 
however, say that it does my heart good and awakens my 
pride for the old Commonwealth to meet at this board so 
many of the men who, during the last quarter of a century, 
have occupied seats in the Senate of Massachusetts, some 
of them as its presiding officers, one of them afterward the 
Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth, all representing 
her enterprise and civilization. Especially am I glad to 
pay my tribute of respect and of friendship to the faithful 
Clerk, the genial companion, the wise and venerable head, 
shining even brighter than the gilded dome under which 
he serves, and almost as familiar to the people, [Laughter 
and applause.] Where there are so many crowns upon 
which this compliment would gracefully rest, perhaps it 
is necessary to say I refer to our friend, the Hon. Stephen 
N. Gifford. Where shall we look upon his like .'' What 
an eventful period of our history is spanned by his life ! 
Reaching from the days of the early Federalists even unto 
the disappearing coat-tails of the greenbacker, and including 
the triumphs of Webster, the overthrow of nullification, 
the fervor of the anti-slavery movement, the struggles in 
Kansas, the short-lived flash of Know-Nothingism, the 
shining glory of John A. Andrew, the war and the triumph 
of the nation against rebellion, and the happy return of the 
grandest prosperity that ever shone upon a nation, — 
Auditor, the father of the Senate, Clerk for twenty-five 
years, the leading songster in the Senate choir of 1872 
[laughter], not averse to the fisherman's rod, and the most 
entertaining of conversationalists in his reminiscences of 
the past ; well may the Commonwealth be called upon 
to respond, when such a one of our public servants is 



12 

honored, and his long and faithful service recognized. I 
make no apology ; for, had I the eloquence of all the orators, 
I could not represent Massachusetts better than by saying 
that she respects and honors Stephen N. Gifford, and trusts 
that he may serve her as long as he lives. [Applause.] 

The President. — Gentlemen, we have heard from the 
Commonwealth. I think it is about time we began to hear 
from our present Senators. We all know we have a presid- 
ing officer who has occupied the place for three years, having 
been in continuous service as a member of the Senate for 
five years, a remarkable thing nowadays ; and we shall be 
glad to hear from him. We all honor and love him in his 
own home. No man is more popular in his city, the city of 
Newton, than Mr. Bishop, and I take great pleasure in intro- 
ducing him. 

Mr. Bishop was greeted with hearty and long continued 
applause; and, after it had subsided, he spoke as follows: — 

ADDRESS OF HON. ROBERT R. BISHOP. 

Mr. President, — I am sure that the reason why you call 
upon me is that I may have opportunity, on behalf of the 
present Senate, to express its sentiments of welcome and 
fellowship to its predecessors all along the line, on an 
occasion when we come together for the common purpose 
of tendering our united tribute of respect, of friendship, of 
recollection, and of love to the veteran Clerk of all these 
Senates, Stephen N. Gifford. [Applause.] 

Any one who has read " Tom Brown's School Days at 
Rugby" — and every Senator is presumed to have read that 
book — will recollect that at all the reunions and anniver- 
saries, when the students of many years come back, the day 
belongs to the old boys by right of a prior title, and the new 
boys are unceremoniously pushed aside. So, since I have not 
the slightest intention of admitting that I am an old boy, or 
that any one of my associates is such, we cheerfully grant, 
brethren of the former Senates, that the occasion is mainly 
yours, — that it is a time when the old precept should be 



13 

observed that the younger portion of the family is to be 
seen and not heard [laughter] ; and, grateful that it has 
been our good fortune to initiate this festival, we rejoicingly 
turn it over to your hands. 

Welcome, then, Senators of the many Senates, to a 
revival, even though for one brief hour, of the recollections 
and the spirit of your former labors. Welcome again in 
spirit to the Senate Chamber, that grand old hall which 
Rufus Choate was accustomed to call " the finest legislative 
room in the world." It remains, in chaste dignity of appear- 
ance and in delightful cheerfulness, the same as when you 
left it. It is true the old fireplaces which flanked the Presi- 
dent's desk have disappeared. It is true that the snuff-box 
which for generations ornamented one mantel-piece, and from 
which, as the most distinguished courtesy which he could 
bestow, the President took a pinch with strangers, has been 
carefully appropriated by the Secretary of State. [Laugh- 
ter.] I am afraid that it is true that the old box of camomile 
flowers which graced the other will be found in the coat 
pocket of some one of the members of the Senate of 1858, 
Mr. Gifford's first Senate. [Renewed laughter.] But the 
drum and sword and Hessian cap and the guns are there. 
It is still the duty of the President, when the debates 
approach the dull and uninteresting point, — they never 
reach it [applause], — to gaze vacantly at the magnolia blos- 
soms and the quaint festoons of oak leaves in the ceiling, 
and thus to give the appearance of being absorbed in rapt 
attention. [Laughter.] The desks of the law-makers are 
still there between the beautiful Corinthian pillars. The 
present Senate would never forgive me if I did not hasten 
to say that I do not mean in the slightest to imply that these 
are the only pillars of State which still remain. [Laughter 
and applause.] These are there, and you, fellow-Senators of 
the previous Senates, are there, in spirit. Call up the vivid, 
urgent, exigent debates and struggles of your time ; when 
the tug and struggle was hard and sharp and long ; when 
a single vote, it may be, carried or defeated measures which 
you, in your ardor, thought contained the remedy for all 
evils or carried the seeds of great ruin. How you fought 



14 

over them ! We are doing it all over again now. You are 
still there in your successors, fighting over again the battles 
which, to them, are equally urgent and pregnant, with 
equally varying fortune. How clearly, as one looks back, 
does the truth come out that it is not so much the success 
or failure of a specific measure which carries the marked 
consequences which you have apprehended, as it is that 
"out of the clashing of discordant views there comes the 
harmony of a perfect State." [Applause.] 

These are all there, and — Mr. Gifford is there. He is 
there in the same quiet, unostentatious performance of the 
duties of his office, with the same urbanity and simplicity 
of manner, with the same clear sunlight shining through his 
character, with the same stability of manhood, as on the day 
when he first took the oath of office. [Applause.] Like 
the twelve tribes of Israel or the clans of the valley, we 
gather to-night, every one under its own banner ; but our 
emotion toward him is described by the lines, — 

" Saxon and Norman and Dane are we, 

But all of us Danes in our welcome of thee." 

How shall we speak of him as he deserves, and to his 
face ? There is only one way in which a task at once so 
grateful and so delicate can be performed, and that is to 
speak as we feel, from the heart ; and Mr. Gifford will 
pardon mc, I am sure, if, in order to express my own feel- 
ings, which you all share, I repeat a conversation which I 
lately had with a friend of exquisite perceptions, about a 
portrait. Seeing a striking etching of Dean Stanley in his 
parlor, I said, "That's a strong face." "Yes," said he, "it 
is a strong face ; but I always think that its strength comes 
from conviction and from conscience." My friends. Dean 
Stanley and Mr. Gifford are not relatives, so far as I know ; 
but I ask you to look at that face on this memorial [holding 
up the portrait of Mr. Gifford upon the memento prepared 
for the guests], and, remembering that, in the long inter- 
course of years, no one of you ever heard him speak a word 
that you would wish unsaid, nor witnessed an act which did 



15 

not increase your respect for his manhood, tell me if there 
is not something in your own feelings about its original that 
is stronger than friendship, higher than mere respect, deeper 
even than affection, — the conviction that his long life as a 
man and his quarter of a century as a public officer have 
been guided and governed by the highest behests of convic- 
tion and conscience, and not by will or personal purpose. 
[Applause.] 

Speak of the perfect performance of his duties as Clerk of 
the Senate for this long period ; speak of his absolutely 
incorruptible character and nature ; speak of the great 
patience and kindness of his heart, — yet in our hearts 
to-night, over and above all other qualities, 

" His strength is as the strength of ten, 
Because his heart is clean." 
[Great applause.] 

The President. — I think that approach to dulness in the 
speeches in the Senate, to which our excellent President has 
referred, must belong to the later generation. [Laughter.] 
We had a way of curing all such things in old times. We 
used to meet together, and remain about fifteen or twenty 
minutes ; and then we had no difficulty with dulness, for we 
went over to the House, where it was lively. 

The President has referred to the past Senates. A re- 
markable thing is this to-night that we have with us a Presi- 
dent of the Senate who occupied the chair thirty-two years 
ago, who is now past eighty-four years of age, who is still in 
business, still a bank director, an insurance director, and 
whose voice is heard very often in different parts of the 
State. You all know to whom I refer ; and I will, without 
further ado, introduce the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder. 

At the announcement of the President, the entire com- 
pany rose to their feet, and greeted Mr. Wilder with very 
hearty applause, who then spoke as follows : — 

ADDRESS OF HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 

Mr. President, — I am greatly obliged to you for your kind 
words, and to you, my good friends, for your cordial greet- 



i6 

ings on the announcement of my name. Yes, Mr. President, 
it is true, as you have intimated, that I am somewhat ad- 
vanced in years ; but, although- I may have come down to 
you from a former century, I trust I shall never be so old 
as not to remember that I once held a seat in the Senate of 
Massachusetts [applause], or so ungrateful as not to appre- 
ciate highly the many other favors which have been conferred 
on me by my friends, during a long and protracted life. And 
now, Mr. President, I desire to return your compliment, and 
to say we owe you a debt of gratitude for the many valuable 
services which you have rendered to our city. State, and 
nation, and which we can never forget. [Applause.] Es- 
pecially glad am I to meet again the distinguished President 
of the Senate, who so ably and gracefully discharges the 
duties of his high office, and by which great honor is con- 
ferred on our Commonwealth. [Renewed applause.] Mr. 
President, this is a special occasion ; and I am most happy 
to be here and to participate with you and our friends in 
expressing our gratitude to our worthy guest for the long 
and valuable services he has rendered to our State. Few 
men have rendered more important or honorable service in 
her behalf. No one, since the organization of our govern- 
ment, has held the office which he now fills for so long a 
period ; and I am sure, gentlemen, you will all unite with me 
in saying that no one has discharged the various duties 
thereof with more courtesy, fidelity, and ability. [Applause.] 
Long may he live to enjoy the confidence and esteem to 
which he is so justly entitled, and to occupy the same posi- 
tion, if he lives, for years to come. [Applause.] Mr. Presi- 
dent, as you have alluded to my official relations with the 
Senate of Massachusetts in former years, and, standing here 
to-day as I do after an absence of thirty-two years from that 
body, I trust it may not be considered as out of place for 
me to refer for a moment to that time and some of the inci- 
dents of those days. That Senate, as now, was composed 
of forty members. Most of these have passed over the 
bridge of life. Only a few are left on this side of the river, 
and I alone am here to-night to tell the story of those days. 



17 

Among those that still live, I rejoice to number Henry L. 
Dawes and William B. Washburn [applause], both of whom 
have rendered most honorable services in behalf of our 
State and nation, and whose names will be handed down to 
posterity as benefactors of mankind. [Renewed applause.] 
The session of 1850 was held in a time of great political 
excitement, when the anti-slavery sentiment of New Eng- 
land was at its highest point. It was during that session 
that Mr. Webster delivered his memorable 7th of March 
speech in the Senate of the United States, a speech which 
caused great discomfiture, even to some of his own friends. 
So great was this that I may state to you, what is not gen- 
erally known, that resolutions censuring him were presented 
in that Senate ; but, thanks to a merciful Providence, after 
Senators had slept over them for the night, they were with- 
drawn, and thus that Senate escaped from a foul stain on its 
records which would have disgraced it through all time. 
[Applause.] Mr. Webster's speech was much misunderstood 
and misrepresented at that time ; but let me say to you, gen, 
tlemen, that I have read that speech over and over again- 
have read it to-day, and I cannot, for my life, put my finger 
on a single line but what is perfectly consistent with the 
patriotism, loyalty, and integrity which characterized his 
whole political life. But time sets all things right at last ; 
and I think, if the public voice of to-day could be expressed, 
it would be pronounced as one of the most self-sacrificing 
and patriotic speeches of that immortal man. New England's 
greatest son, America's most illustrious statesman. [Ap- 
plause.] Mr. President, there are many distinguished gen- 
tlemen present who are to address this assembly, and I will 
bring my remarks to a close. You will permit me, however, 
to say again that I am very thankful to be here and to par- 
ticipate in the privileges and pleasures of this occasion, here 
to meet so many old friends with some of whom I have been 
acquainted for many years, here to exchange congratulations 
on the continuance of our lives. It warms up the old heart, 
the pulse beats stronger, the blood courses more freely in 
my veins, and I live over again the life of former days. 



i8 

[Applause.] But, gentlemen, I cannot disguise the fact 
that my days of pilgrimage on earth are nearly ended. I 
have long since passed the summit of the hill of life, and 
have descended down its western slope nearly to the sunset 
line ; but, while life lasts, I shall never cease to thank the 
Giver of all good that he cast my lot in the midst of so 
many friends, and has permitted me to live for so long a time 
under the benign influence of those blessed principles which 
have made our nation what it is, the first great free and 
independent republic on earth, the strongest and best gov- 
ernment in the world ! [Loud applause.] 

The President. — The department of the government of 
Massachusetts in which the people have the most confi- 
dence, and to which they hold with extreme tenacity, is that 
of the judiciary. One of our Supreme Court judges has 
been placed upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. His appointment gave pleasure and satis- 
faction throughout the nation. I do not think that the list 
is exhausted ; and, if our President in his wisdom cannot 
find a judge to fill the place which is now vacant, he can 
come to Massachusetts again, and we can give him another 
man to fill it. [Applause.] I shall invite Judge Pitman to 
answer for himself in regard to that matter. 

Judge Pitman was greeted with hearty applause, and 
spoke as follows : — 

ADDRESS OF HON, ROBERT C. PITMAN. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen, — I hardly know which 
startles me the most, the very flattering introduction, or the 
fact that I am brought into such close proximity to my ven- 
erable friend who has just addressed you. But, startling 
as it may be to be called on to address you next to the 
venerable ex-President Wilder, who rejoices in the age of 
eighty-four years, I suppose I am in my right place. For, 
of the Presidents of the Senate who come within the favored 
limit of twenty-five years covering Mr, Gifford's term of 
office, I stand next among the living to Governor Claflin. 



19 

Some special reminiscences are awakened when I recollect 
that the Presidents between Governor Claflin and myself 
have all departed. There is Governor Clifford, of glorious 
memory; there is President Field, honored for so many 
years ; there is Joseph A. Pond, falling in the maturity of 
his powers ; there is the genial friend of every man who 
was in the Senate, George Brastow ; and I come next in 
order. I think, gentlemen, although I am not quite posi- 
tive, in looking over the list, there are not more than nine 
living Presidents of the Senate, of whom we have six here 
to-night. 

Dr. Johnson says. When there are a great many people, 
they come out of church slowly : when there are a few, they 
come out easily. So it is with ideas. When there is much 
crowding the mind, it is difficult to express it. I trust I 
shall not be slow ; but, if you find a confusion of ideas, you 
must attribute it to the multiplicity of topics which crowd 
upon me. 

One of the first thoughts that crowd upon my mind is, 
We have lost an anniversary ; and this is an attempt, in 
part, to make up for the loss. A year and a half ago there 
was an anniversary which should have been memorable in 
every part of Massachusetts, it being then one hundred years 
since the Constitution of Massachusetts was adopted ; and, 
though it is not actually so, it would seem that nobody in 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts except our good Gov- 
ernor Long remembered that fact, and a few men who were 
gathered in the council chamber — and I esteem it an honor 
to have been one of them — to listen to the prayer of Presi- 
dent Hopkins. That was all the celebration Massachusetts 
afforded of an accomplished fact so glorious as that, — one 
hundred years of freedom and prosperity under a constitu- 
tion like the Constitution of Massachusetts. I do not know 
what possessed the Legislature of Massachusetts, — whether 
it was the shadow of General Butler in the distance to call 
them to account, if a few dollars were appropriated for that 
purpose. [Laughter and applause.] What a glorious oppor- 
tunity to have gathered at the State House every living rep- 



20 

resentative of every department of the government of Massa- 
chusetts (the number is not too large even for the House), 
and to have celebrated such an event as that ! We have 
celebrated every skirmish, almost, in the war of the Revolu- 
tion ; but here is an event which goes beyond the end of the 
war, goes back even to the time when Massachusetts laid 
the foundations of her imperishable prosperity, and framed 
a constitution which no civilized government can surpass. 
But that opportunity has passed. It is something to gather 
the representatives for twenty-five years of even one depart- 
ment of the government. 

Something has been said of the department of the govern- 
ment which I have the honor to represent, and perhaps I 
may be allowed to speak for the Superior Court. We have 
upon our bench now four who have been members of the 
Senate, and I think they will agree with me that a very val- 
uable part of our training has come from the experience in 
making laws which we had there. Three other members of 
our court, making a majority of the whole, have seen service 
in the House. So you see that Massachusetts in her legisla- 
tive halls trains men for all departments of her government. 
But I must differ from my worthy friend, whom I honor, as 
I ought, who presides here, in one or two matters. It would 
not be a Senate, if there were no difference and no debate. 
I wish to say to the Legislature of Massachusetts, and say 
without the bias of any personal feeling, that not only do I 
esteem your branch of the government the equal in honor 
and importance of any other branch of the government, but 
I say to you, Value your own position highly, respect your- 
selves, continue your sessions until you have finished the 
public business. [Applause.] Do not mind the cheap cen- 
sures of the newspapers, or the snarling of your competitors 
whom you have distanced in the opinion of your fellow- 
citizens. [Applause.] Remember what Tennyson says, 
"Raw haste half-sister to delay." Hasty legislation results 
in doubt and confusion, as those who have to administer the 
laws ascertain. [Applause.] 

But I am afraid I shall be borne away from the object of 



21 

the occasion. [Voices, " Go on ! "] I know the sentiment 
of my excellent friend, the Clerk ; and I know that he will say 
" Amen " to what I have just expressed. 

Mr. Gifford. — Amen. [Loud laughter and applause.] 

Judge Pitman. — If I might venture to criticise my 
younger friends, I would say that it has been their fear that 
somebody would think they had better be in a hurry to close 
their session that has sometimes deteriorated their legisla- 
tion. I remember a few years ago calling the attention of 
the chairman of the judiciary of the House to the unconsti- 
tutionality of a law. The reply was, that it was too late in 
the session even to attend to the repeal of an unconstitutional 
law ; the consequence of which was that a brace of criminals 
soon afterward convicted of a felonious offence were dis- 
charged from the house of correction by a decision of the 
Supreme Court. 

But, lest I forget and be driven from the subject by the 
modesty of my friend, I desire to say that, so ably and satis- 
factorily has he discharged the duties of his office during his 
long term of service, Mr. Gifford would have the vote of 
every Senator who has served during that time. I remember 
after I was elected President, in my confusion the first day, 
I put the vote in this form, " Senators in favor will say, 
'Aye': those contrary-minded will say, 'No.'" I soon 
received a note, the handwriting of which I easilv recog- 
nized, saying that Senators were not supposed to be contrary- 
minded. [Laughter and applause.] I think, if any Senator 
was to vote against a vote of thanks to Mr. Gifford, that 
Senator might well be called contrary-minded. [Renewed 
applause.] 

Not only did Mr. Gifford never make an enemy, but he 
never said an unkind word. I never saw him when he was 
not as calm and unruffled as a morning in June, — that morn- 
ing in June, you know, that always foretells a pleasant and 
long day. And so I trust that the measure of his life will 
be so prolonged that he shall have that length of life that 
shall fully satisfy him. [Applause.] 



22 

The President. — I trust my friend, the Judge, will 
pardon me if I suggest that the people sometimes think the 
Judiciary is not in a great hurry to decide their cases. 
[Laughter.] We have received from a former President of 
the Senate, my predecessor, a telegram, which I think should 
be read to you. It comes from Prague, in Austria : — 

Bishop, President of the Senate, Boston, Mass.: Heartiest, warm- 
est greetings to friends of other days. Charles A. Phelps. 

I notice on my left a gentleman who has watched the 
clock very closely, as he intends to start soon for Washing- 
ton ; and I have been even afraid that the railroad would take 
him in spite of us. Of all departments in the government 
which I might have said is least respected in Washington 
is the Agricultural [laughter] ; the one that Senators and 
Representatives, remembering their constituents at home, 
and knowing that something ought to be done for the agri- 
cultural interests, are always ready to vote any amount of 
money for, though they would sneer privately, and some- 
times publicly, about the uses made of it, such as raising tea 
in South Carolina, and bringing yachts from some other part 
of the globe to travel over the mountains with, and so on. 
But, finally, they came to Massachusetts to select a Commis- 
sioner of Agriculture, and they pitched upon exactly the 
right man. [Applause.] The whole country applauded as 
much as they did when Judge Gray was selected for the 
Supreme Court ; and I do not know that he will ever be able 
to get out of the office until he is removed to another sphere, 
judging from what we have seen since he has been in. But 
you know more about him than I do, and I know everything 
to his praise. He was with me in Congress four years, and 
always stood by me in every effort. We worked together 
and we lived together ; and I cherish his friendship most 
heartily, as I know you do. I will not say further in his 
praise, but present to you the Hon. George B. Loring. 
[Loud applause.] 



23 
ADDRESS OF HON. GEORGE B. LORING. 

Mr. Presidejit, — I certainly feel under great obligation 
to you for the interesting, suggestive, and significant 
introduction you have given me to my Senatorial friends 
this evening, that I am just fitted to fill the most insignifi- 
cant place in the government. [Laughter.] It is a 
compliment so unusual, so rich, that I shall treasure it to 
my dying day. [Renewed laughter.] I know now, sir, 
just exactly what I am worth. I have never been able to 
find out before during a long and useful life. [Laughter.] 
I think, sir, you and I have escaped very well this evening. 
I sit here among a class of gentlemen who have been 
alluded to by the present President of the Senate as his 
venerable predecessors ; and he did it so gently and so 
sweetly that I rather felt proud of my position here. I felt 
I was fortunate to escape that appeal : " Venerable men, 
you have come down to us from a former generation. 
Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your life that you 
may behold this joyous day." When I felt myself free 
from that charge, and felt that there was one little spark 
of youth remaining for Judge Pitman and myself, I 
congratulated myself that I had been here, and shall return 
to my duty with renewed energy, and endeavor to make 
this most insignificant department of mine worthy of a 
graduate of the Massachusetts Senate. [Applause.] 

I have great respect for the Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts, and always had. I do not mean to say, situated 
now as I am, that distance lends enchantment to the view ; 
for she certainly looks more charming and more delightful 
when I am here than she possibly can at any distance. 
Wherever I go, north, south, east, or west, I find the marks 
and footsteps of the old Commonwealth so continually 
that I am constantly reminded of the State of my birth ; 
more than that, I am reminded of the high service which 
I have performed here in the State, and of the higher 
service which my friends and associates have been enabled 
to perform before me. Massachusetts has many institutions 



24 

of which she may well be proud. She has her Harvard 
College, her Williams College, and other centres of learning 
on every hand ; and those of us who are graduates of those 
schools feel proud of the position we have secured by our 
associations. She has also her penitentiaries, which I do 
not think it is a hardship to get into. [Laughter.] I 
congratulate my fellow-citizens on the fact that no decree of 
the judge who sits before me, and no jury, can send a man in 
this State into an uncomfortable prison. [Laughter.] We 
have our military organizations, which serve well in wars and 
fight well in peace. We have our Hoosac Tunnel, the 
model of all the great bores of this land [laughter], an 
institution from which every graduate has gone forth 
into the larger service of life, understanding exactly how 
far public works can go and how far he can go in imposing 
upon the good will of the American people. We have a 
variety of institutions here, of which we are all proud. We 
have our academies ; and I see here and there, scattered in 
this hall, graduates of those old schools who have never yet 
forgotten the stern and painful discipline imposed upon 
them in their earl)^ days by all these institutions in the 
State of Massachusetts. And I defy any man in this land 
to point to one more important, more significant, and whose 
graduates have held higher honor than the Senate of the 
State of Massachusetts. [Applause.] 

I see here men who have distinguished themselves in 
every walk in life, and who have graduated in that branch 
of our government. Here, we have Governors, ex-Gov- 
ernors, so called, who carried to their private homes all the 
honors they have earned by their hard service in life, and 
who, having served their State well, have upheld her 
honor, her loyalty, and her glory on the battle-fields, and 
have won for her additional renown in their service in the 
great war for the Union. [Applause.] We have here 
gentlemen who have done their service well everywhere. 

When I went to Congress, I found myself surrounded by 
Massachusetts Senators. I found in the Judiciary Com- 
mittee one member, chairman of the Judiciary Committee in 



25 

the Massachusetts Senate when I was president. I waited 
a little while, and I found another one turning up on the 
Judiciary Committee; and it seemed as though Congress 
itself could not get along without the influence of the 
Massachusetts Senate. It was omnipresent. It seemed 
omnipotent. It was the great water-wheel that seemed to 
move the machinery of the national government. 

Therefore, I think we have a right to be proud of the 
Senate of Massachusetts. When the State of Massachusetts 
was assailed in Congress, and I endeavored, in my humble 
way, to defend the old Commonwealth against the attacks 
that were made upon her suffrage policy, upon her loyalty 
in the late war, upon her position in history, the last fact 
that I stated that won the admiration and esteem of the 
House of Representatives was this : when the Senate of 
Massachusetts passes into the chamber where its delibera- 
tions are conducted, it passes beneath the drum that beat 
the reveille, and the musket that blazed in the line, when 
the power of the Anglo-Saxon was established on this 
continent, and the American flag was carried far on beyond 
the waters of the Labradors, almost to the frozen seas. 
[Applause.] The last thing that won their esteem, and put 
the old Commonwealth where she should be, was the fact 
that the Senate of Massachusetts assembled under those 
circumstances. I did not say anything about the House. 
[Laughter.] I did not say anything about the Council. I said 
we had good and righteous judges ; and they who opposed us 
said, "We have good and righteous judges." I said, "We 
have an able Executive" ; and they said, " So have we." But, 
when I began to beat that old drum, and fire off the old 
gun, down they came [applause] ; and they wished they had 
such a drum and such a gun. And I said, " You will, if 
you live long enough." Longevity is a great thing in this 
world. I am happy to see that some Senators in the 
Senate of Massachusetts seem determined to follow in the 
same path. 

I think the Senate of Massachusetts is a convenient 
body to belong to. There are just enough members to be 



26 

sociable, just enough to make a noise, just enough to have 
trouble in, and just enough to quiet the whole trouble, and 
come out in a dignified and proper manner. Tell me, if the 
House of the last twenty-five years could get up such a 
dinner as this [laughter], such an assembly as this. Why, 
this hall would be crowded and overrun by the ambitious 
young statesmen that have served this Commonwealth so 
well. Call together the membership of the Council of 
this State for the last twenty-five years, and there would 
not be enough to fill one table; but, when you come to the 
Senate, whose number was fixed to forty members by the 
Constitutional Convention in 1820, when Mr. Webster said 
there were so few men in the State that had any money it 
must be small, and consequently they fixed the number at 
forty, it certainly is the most convenient, most admirable, 
most successful number ever heard of. [Applause.] You 
can tie forty, — you cannot tie forty-one ! 

Now, in the midst of all the successful endeavors of the 
Senate of Massachusetts, we have had a Clerk here for 
twenty-five years ; and I am not at all sorry that the 
Senators who have served with him were anxious to take 
advantage of this anniversary of his, and come together 
in kindly accord around the festive board. Why, he has set 
us a good example in all good feeling. He is an amiable 
gentleman. He makes no quarrels with anybody, and 
keeps himself always in condition to dine with the Senators 
on all occasions. So far as I know, he is an admirable 
example in that respect, so that, as a social gentleman, he 
is the model Clerk of the Massachusetts Senate. He 
brought into the Senate of Massachusetts twenty-five years 
ago the spirit of the old colony from whence he came ; and 
I have no doubt the courage of Miles Standish has been 
coursing in his veins from that day to this, and I can see 
that the beauty of Priscilla Mullins is in his face. [Laugh- 
ter and applause.] I know that he has been true to the 
doctrines that were established at Plymouth by the Pilgrims 
of 1620. I am sure that, in all his devotion to principle, he 
has manifested a resolution and determination which he got 



27 

nowhere else but on that sacred spot. Did you ever know 
him to waver, when I have appealed to him to know 
whether, in resisting the claims of the House in regard 
to originating bills, the Senate was in the right ? I never 
knew him to say the House was in the right. [Applause.] 
I never knew a man so loyal. Why, he would always stand 
by us ; and, when the Senators were called into the House 
in convention assembled, with what an air of magnificent 
triumph he has led the way for the President and his 
followers, as if to say, " Here we are : see what a dignified 
body of gentlemen we are." [Laughter.] I do not wonder 
the Senators all love him, and desire to have him continije 
in office as long as he lives ; and I agree with them that 
a more thoroughly model Clerk has never been known in 
the Massachusetts Senate. I am sure that, as time goes on, 
he will find, if he desires to find it, that he is entitled to 
that benediction (I do not know that he desires it, I do not 
know that he has ever contemplated the end, or ever will 
[laughter], I do not ask him to), but, when he does, I remind 
him, he is perfectly entitled to the benediction, " Mark the 
perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of that 
man is peace." [Loud applause.] 

The President. — See what a secretary agriculture will 
have, when the department is brought into the Cabinet. 
[Applause.] The oldest of the former Presidents of the 
Senate now living is the Hon. Josiah Quincy. He was 
invited to be present with us this evening, and we were 
in some hopes he would be here ; but he has finally deter- 
mined, although in good health, that his great age will not 
permit him. We all know his service to the Commonwealth 
in past time, what he did for the Western railroad and for 
many other enterprises ; and we honor him. Those who 
know him best esteem him most highly. As he is the 
oldest of former Presidents, and cannot be with us, it is my 
pleasure to introduce to you one of the younger, who has 
filled the chair of President with great acceptance and with 
great eloquence. I have now the pleasure of introducing 



28 

without further words the Hon. Horace H. CooHdge. [Ap- 
plause.] 

ADDRESS OF HON. rfORACE H. COOLIDGE. 

Mr. President, — It has been my fortune many times to 
attend public dinners in honor of those who have served 
their country well. Sometimes, I have spoken ; but upon no 
occasion have I been called upon to do so, when I have 
responded with so earnest a feeling as comes now from my 
heart in honoring the guest of this evening. It has been 
given me to have been associated with him officially perhaps 
a longer number of years than any gentleman now present. 
I entered the House in 1865, and remained there three years, 
and from the committees on which I served learned then to 
know the Clerk of the Senate. In 1869, I entered the 
Senate ; and no one received me more cordially than the 
Clerk. In 1870, I was chosen to the Presidency, and here 
let me give a little incident. Prior to the assembling of the 
Senate, — the night before, indeed, — a caucus of the whole 
Senate was called. By their kindness, I was unanimously 
nominated ; but I remember that a Senator, so much and so 
truly regretted by me and all who knew him, the Hon. Ellis 
W. Morton, got up and said that for the benefit of the new 
Senators he would state that the Senate of Massachusetts 
could never be properly organized without the unanimous 
nomination of Stephen N. Gifford, as Clerk. [Applause.] 
The whole Senate agreed with him, and the thing was done. 
From that day to this, — yes, and for years before, — that ver- 
dict was always given. And why.? Because Massachusetts is 
an honest State. God bless her ! And Gifford has shown 
himself, for twenty-five years, an honest officer, an honest 
patron, and an honest man. Is there more to ask for in this 
grand old Commonwealth .-* Let me say to you all, my 
friends, who have assembled to do honor to our beloved 
guest, that not one of you can so appreciate and love him 
as those of us who have sat in the chair of the Senate, and 
who know, as no others can, our obligations to him, so mod- 
estly and so simply rendered, and yet always with a learning 



29 

and devotion to his branch of the General Court which 
could not but impress us each and all. I cannot conclude 
without alluding to one trait in our dear friend's character 
that impressed me more than all. He is, was, and always 
will be, as I most earnestly hope, a man of most pronounced 
convictions upon every subject, political or otherwise. And 
yet no man who has ever met him during his whole twenty- 
five years of service can say that he ever attempted to 
interfere unduly with legislation. On the contrary, I had 
the opportunity for three years, as President, to watch the 
patience with which he listened to every man who came to 
that desk of his, so open to interruption that it would have 
driven many of us wild, never ruffled, always ready to 
answer all questions, knowing well that all those interrup- 
tions would cost him half a night of sleep, yet always the 
same calm gentleman you see him now. Do we not do our- 
selves good this night to honor him, the simple, modest gen- 
tleman who has done so much for us ; and am I not right in 
applying to him these words of Tennyson ? — 

" For who can always act ? but he 

To whom a thousand memories call, 
Not being less, but more than all 
The gentleness he seemed to be, 

" Best seemed the thing he was, and join'd 
Each office of the social hour 
To noble manners, as the flower 
And native growth of noble mind ; 

" Nor ever narrowness or spite. 
Or villain fancy fleeting by, 
Drew in the expression of an eye, 
When God and Nature met in light ; 

" And thus he bore without abuse 

The grand old name of gentleman, 
Defamed by every charlatan 
And soiled with all ignoble use." 

[Applause.] 



30 

The President. — I am reminded that the time is passing 
on, and some of you may be obliged to leave. Our friend, 
the guest of the evening, has been working his way down 
the list as far as he can ; but I shall not let him go any 
longer, and therefore I shall present to you Stephen N. 
Gifford, Clerk of the Senate. 

As Mr. Gifford rose in response to the introduction by 
the President, he was greeted with hearty cheers and ap- 
plause, the entire company rising on their feet. When the 
applause had subsided, Mr. Gifford said : — 

ADDRESS OF STEPHEN N. GIFFORD. 

I think, friends, if anybody had said to me this morning 
that there were as many men in the State of Massa- 
chusetts who had ever been my constituents as are here 
present, I never would have believed it ; and I know that 
there are not the same number of good-looking men in the 
United States. [Applause.] 

There is only one man that I have any spite against here, 
and I want to free my mind in regard to him for this reason. 
In one of his valedictory addresses, he alluded to me as 
" the venerable Clerk of the Senate." I looked in the regis- 
ter, and I found that he was just two years younger than I. 
[Laughter.] Now, I did not like it. Still, I am old enough : 
there is no doubt about that. [Applause.] 

But I think I may say it would require a more eloquent 
tongue than mine fitly to respond to the many kind things 
that have been said here to-night. I feel as if I had been 
travelling in some far-off land, and, after years of absence, 
had returned to my friends once more; and, as I meet the old 
familiar faces, I see the same genial smile, I hear the same 
kindly greeting, I feel the same hearty shake of the hand of 
days long ago. I look around for other familiar faces, and I 
find them not ; but instead, in my mind's eye, I see a long, 
long procession passing down the dark valley and beyond 
that bourne whence no traveller returns. In that procession, 
I see men who sat by your side, men who worked shoulder 
to shoulder with you for the honor of the old Commonwealth, 



31 

men who devoted their best energies to make their native 
State a model Commonwealth, to make her what she is, the 
Queen of New England. In that procession, I see a Clifford, 
the jurist, the Governor, your President, Wentworth of Mid- 
dlesex, Bailey of Fitchburg, second to no man in ability in 
the County of Worcester, — " he was my friend, faithful and 
just to me," — Pond of Middlesex, a born presiding officer, 
Brastow of Middlesex, Field of Berkshire, Loring of Suffolk, 
who was unimpeachable on a question of law. And then 
there was that Bayard of Suffolk, young Morton, a man 
without fear and without reproach, than whom no man ever 
had a brighter future, had not disease marked him for its 
own. He faltered, died, and, like Milton's Lycidas, he was 
dead ere his prime ; and, to those who bore him to his grave, 
no fitter words could be said than those of the poet, " Tread 
lightly, comrades, for 'tis a man ye bear." 

Those who knew him will fully appreciate what I have 
said ; and the pleasing memories that cluster round the 
names of those men that were here, men that we saw every 
day, will still remain. It is a sad reflection, and humiliating 
as well, that every day's experience teaches us that it mat- 
ters not how exalted a position a man holds, no matter how 
many vast enterprises seem to rest on his shoulders, bound 
up in the issues of his life, the existence of a nation depend- 
ing on his presence in its councils, — the summons comes, he 
falls, and is gone, and the words, "The king is dead ! Long 
live the king ! " are as true to-day as when said in ancient 
times. The ranks close up. " Some short bustle is caused, 
a few inquiries, and the solemn brood of care plod on." 
But it must be so. Yet, the world's work must be done. We 
must do it. "Duty exists, immutably survives." Gentlemen, 
twenty-five years is a long time in a man's life. A man 
is fortunate to have lived that time in active life, more fortu- 
nate to have lived those years in Massachusetts, still more 
to have lived that time in the United States. Twenty-five 
years ago, we heard the mutterings of the tempest which 
was soon to burst with relentless fury upon our nation. For 
four long years, we saw the spectacle of what the immortal 



32 

Webster so feared, — States dissevered, discordant, belliger- 
ent ; but, with the ability of our statesmen and by the 
strong arms of the Boys in Blue, the old flag once more 
floats over a United States, not a star erased nor a stripe 
polluted, bearing on all its shining folds those glorious words 
in their fullest meaning, " All men are created equal ; lib- 
erty and union, one and forever, inseparable." 

I believe any man who takes public office, takes it for the 
accommodation of the public, not to accommodate himself 
[applause] ; and I believe, further, that, when there is any 
thing to do, he should go and do it and say as little about it 
as possible. [Applause.] Every man in office may have 
cause for irritation. Every man who has ever held a public 
office, and especially the one which I have had the honor to 
hold so long, fully realizes the trouble and interruption that 
he is continually experiencing ; but the first quality for any 
man in public office is that of a gentleman [applause], and 
the quality of a gentleman is of very much the same quality 
as that which Shakspere speaks of in regard to mercy, "It 
blesses him that gives and him that takes." It has a reflex 
action which gives a man the possession of his own faculties. 

Then, as to good humor, I think that is one of the abso- 
lute essentials for a public officer. If a man is to be irritated 
by any little interruption, I think the best thing he can do is 
to resign at once. [Laughter and applause.] That, perhaps, 
may explain my idea of the administration of the duty of a 
public office. 

Perhaps I may speak of the legislative department, hav- 
ing been connected with it for a short time ; although, during 
the twenty-five years that I have been in the Senate Cham- 
ber, I have never been asked until to-night to make a speech. 
[Loud laughter.] Well, now, I have seen the time when I 
would like to do it [renewed laughter] ; and I can tell you 
one thing, that three years ago, if I had been asked to make 
a speech, I think the salary bill would have been tremen- 
dously afflicted. However, I did not have the opportunity. 

But there is one thing I would like to say in vindication of 
the General Court of Massachusetts. The constitution au- 



33 

thorizes the voters of this Commonwealth to meet on a given 
day and choose Representatives and Senators to the Legis- 
lature of Massachusetts. Well, the people go to work, and 
sometimes have a very hard fight ; but the result is, taking 
all things into consideration, they elect what they believe to 
be the best men. They sometimes make a mistake. Every- 
body does. [Uproarious laughter.] But the Legislature is 
not in session more than a week, when you will see in the 
papers, or hear some man say : " What are those men doing ? 
They have been there a week, and have not passed a bill yet." 
So it goes on ; and, in the course of a month, you will hear 
it said, "Of course, they went up there to get the money; 
and I suppose they will stay there until they think they can 
make more money elsewhere, and then they will go home." 
And when the first dandelion appears above the grass in the 
State House yard, there comes a howl at the long session of 
the Legislature ; and if there is a poor robin whistling in the 
leafless elm on the Common [laughter], no matter if he is 
whistling to keep his courage up, it makes no difference, — 
" It is about time for them to go home." 

Now, there are some things of importance in the history 
of Massachusetts ; and I want to know to what the char- 
acter of the Commonwealth is due but to her General 
Court. Look at her schools ; look at her public institutions ; 
look at her charitable institutions. Who framed the Acts 
under which they rose ? Who made provision for their sup- 
port ? Who has made Massachusetts the best common- 
wealth on the face of God's earth but the Legislature of 
Massachusetts ? [Applause.] No other power can do it ; 
and I say that the character of Massachusetts here and 
everywhere where she is known, is due to the honesty, the 
fidelity, the industry of the General Court [renewed ap- 
plause] ; and I say further, and I know whereof I affirm, that 
the members of the Legislature of Massachusetts, those 
who manage the business, work harder, work more hours, 
than they would in their own business at home. I say fur- 
ther — and I can say that, because I have no fear of con- 
tradiction — they work a good deal harder than I would. 



34 

[Laughter.] I say it is unjust ; and, if the people understood 
it, they never would be a party to this tirade. 

Gentlemen, I thank you. If there were any words 
stronger than these, I would use them. I most respectfully 
thank you for all your kindness, for the unvarying kindness 
of every member of the Senate with whom I have been 
acquainted. I have this pleasant recollection that I never 
knew a member of the Senate to leave it with a feeling of 
enmity toward myself. 

When Mr. Gifford concluded his address, the company 
again rose to their feet, and cheered and applauded their 
honored and honorable friend. 

The President. — Gentlemen, I suppose that you have 
observed that our friend the Clerk has a poetical nature and 
loves poetry. It would hardly answer in such an assembly 
as this not to have some one who could give us some lines 
in a different strain from that most of us are accustomed to 
use. I am very happy to say that one of the Senators of 
former years is present with us, and I presume will favor 
us with some of his poetry, Hon. Henry S. Washburn. 

POEM BY HENRY S. WASHBURN. 

Ho ! comrades, why this gatherin<:; of old friends tried and true ? 
What service has the Commonwealth for you and me to do ? 
'Twas long ago we shook the dust from off our parting feet, 
And yet as Senators once more we now together meet. 
The fair dome of the Capitol looms grandly on our sight ; 
And Boston holds the whole of us in her embrace to-night. 

We thought we framed enough of laws to last the State for years, — 
That we could not her future know, now very plain appears ; 
For, ever more the people come with wants to be supplied, 
With projects for the public good which may not be denied. 

But why this gathering to-night ? the Muse again inquires, 
For brightly on the old hearthstone burn newly kindled fires; 
And we are waiting for the Clerk the Senate roll to call. 
To send the answer back, " We're here," for duty, one and all. 

No, no, not all ! We miss, alas ! some of our foremost men, 
Who bravely acted well their part with ready voice and pen ; 



35 

The earnest soul and eloquent who with us, hand in hand, 
Pressed on, until his footsteps passed the unknown border-land. 

Yet one remains who faithfully, through long, unbroken years, 

Has kept a record of our words which fell upon his ears ; 

A sentinel with less of frown than humor in his eyes, 

Who still the oil for Senate lamps abundantly supplies ; 

Our honored guest, who to his post still clings through rain and shine, 

The model of all clerks who've served in that distinguished line. 

We come to pay the tribute which his silvered locks inspire; 

To tell him how we prize him as his days of life expire ; 

To take him once more by the hand and wish him still God-speed, 

Who o'er and o'er has been to us a helpful friend indeed. 

He knows how, when we blundered, he hastened to our aid, 

And by his tact how oft we have a decent record made ; 

How when, perchance, the President a moment left the chair, 

Through him we have been able a good point to declare. 

So quietly he moved about, the Chamber never knew 

His was the merit of the act which its attention drew. 

'Tis said our friend who, modestly, hath this distinction won, 
Has features which resemble much the face of Washington, — 
An honor any man might prize; and 'tis his rightful claim 
No action of his life has been unworthy of that name. 

O brothers ! 'tis no easy task to fill so fair a page, 
And hold a place of public trust almost from youth to age ; 
To win respect, and bear away the love of friend and foe. 
And leave fresh garlands strewn along our pathway as we go. 
Such is his due whose brow to-night with laurels we entwine. 
Our record at this festive board, — your offering and mine. 

But brief our lay; yet we would fain, ere this glad hour is o'er, 
A blessing breathe for our good State we never honored more. 
Her influence, carping critics claim, is on the wane to-day; 
That her prestige, once potential, is vanishing away ; 
That mightier States are rising, nearer the setting sun, 
Which will eclipse the glory in her early days she won. 
When her Adamses and Quincys with right o'er might prevailed. 
And foes of human liberty before their presence quailed. 

Believe it not. List! even now, I hear her old-time cry, 
" 'A man's a man for all of that ! ' gainsay it we defy ; 
And upon our boundless acres, where weary feet tnay tread, 
There's roorn enough for all to co?ne atid earn their daily bread.''' 



36 

So, echoing long this paean, we part for hearth and home ; 
Again, as we have gathered now, we nevermore may come. 
But this shall be our glory : should the nation need a soul, 
Whose strong arm will be able her future to control. 
Right here will rise a Webster, an Andrew, or a Long, 
To steer the good Ship safely through anarchy and wrong. 

[Applause.] 

The President. — Many years ago, it was my fortune 
to be elected when a young man to the Legislature. I took 
my seat in the House with three hundred others ; among 
them, a young man whom I had heard of before, from 
Waltham. His name at that time had even filled the 
Commonwealth ; and he came into the House with just 
expectations, and those expectations have been most honor- 
ably and gloriously fulfilled. After having the highest 
honors of the State, after serving his country on the field, 
after having had honors in the House of Representatives 
in Congress, he has returned to Massachusetts and been 
a Senator ; and it is my great pleasure to welcome him here 
to-night, as you all do. I have now the pleasure of intro- 
ducing to you Hon. N. P. Banks. 

General Banks was greeted with three cheers, the assem- 
bly rising to do him honor. 

ADDRESS OF HON. N. P. BANKS. 

Mr. President, — Were not your commands laid so heavily 
upon me at the commencement of the pleasures of the even- 
ing, I certainly should not trespass upon the patience of the 
company to-night ; but I am very grateful for the opportu- 
nity of being present, of looking upon the company by 
which I am surrounded, and of listening to the sentiments 
of the gentlemen who have spoken so eloquently and so 
truthfully as well as beautifully. 

I came here like you, Mr. President, and the rest of you, 
gentlemen, to honor my friend, Mr. Gifford, whom I have 
known a long time, — not exactly in the way and with the 
zest and right which you have to honor him in his position 
as Secretary of the Senate, but still to give him my meed 



37 

of praise as well as I can. I will, however, speak rather of 
the office which he holds than of the manner in which he 
has discharged its duties ; for I can add nothing to that 
which has been said, nor do I think anybody else can. 

The office of secretary of a body like the Senate, or of a 
secretary anywhere, though lowly in character, and often- 
times in disesteem by the masses of the people, is every- 
where and always a post of great responsibility, requiring 
the highest qualities of intellect and of heart, depending 
more upon the integrity of the man that fills it than almost 
any other office that has been held. I could give, sir, one 
or two illustrations of this which would justify the high 
praise which gentlemen have given our friend who is here 
to-night. M. Thiers, in his history of the Empire of 
France, at the close of that contest which overthrew the 
first emperor, Napoleon, a man who thought he might with 
becoming modesty count himself as the third among the 
great men who had been created to rule the destinies of 
the world, and who, I think, might very well be counted 
among the first in that great contest which overthrew the 
first Napoleon and destroyed the empire, — the historian 
mentions an honorable thing in the performance of his task, 
attributes the success of that final campaign to an unknown 
man without fortune or influence or power, who was the 
secretary of the first Alexander of Russia. In my own time, 
in one of the most important contests of our day, which 
perhaps enlisted the interest of the people of this country 
more than any other contest in the last third or half of a 
century even, which has been of some importance in its 
influence upon the destiny of the country since that time, 
I saw a man for nine weeks to an hour who held in his 
hand at any moment the power to close that contest against 
the majority who finally won a triumph, and who had every 
temptation held out to him to use his power, and yet who, 
faithful to his trust, left it to be decided according to the 
wishes and according to the votes of those to whom by the 
Constitution it was delegated. If that man had failed to be 
in his place at any moment on any morning, the contest 



38 

would have been over ; but he never failed. The tick of the 
clock found him at -his place; and thus was decided one of 
the great contests, one of the important contests of this 
country. And the name of the man is entitled to the 
respect of the people of this country, when .1 speak of the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives in 1855 and 1856, — 
an office occupied by John W. Forney, of Pennsylvania. 

There is scarcely an administration anywhere that does 
not rely largely upon the secretary, — Great Britain upon 
the Secretary of the Queen, and the European governments 
upon their Secretaries. Who is it that directs the destinies 
of this country .-' The Secretary. The greatest capacity, 
the highest possible attainments, the strictest integrity, are 
required for an office like this. Such is the character our 
friend possesses. I will not add to the qualifications, lest 
some unsophisticated persons might think hereafter that 
such an office, filled by such a man as Gifford, might enable 
the people of the Commonwealth to get along another quar- 
ter of a century without any Senators at all. [Applause.] 

But, sir, I am reminded, when I look around upon those 
whom I ought to have known better, that I have been much 
absent from this State for a long period of time, and that I 
see now before me, I may say without extravagance, the 
Representatives of the people that have, in the last quarter 
of a century, made Massachusetts what it is, who have ena- 
bled her to influence the destinies of the country to the 
extent and in the manner in which she has done ; that is, 
they are Representatives in one branch of her Legislature 
which has given her her renown, as well as her influence and 
power, and has bestowed upon the country that meed of suc- 
cess which we have attained in the contests which we have 
had. As such, Mr. President, I salute these gentlemen, and 
as such I honor them. I can remember myself when I 
thought the Senate of Massachusetts was not a very lively 
place. I have heard people oftentimes speak lightly of it : 
very frequently, they are inclined to speak lightly of public 
men [laughter] ; but at one time, by some accident or other, 
I was chosen to a seat in the Senate of Massachusetts, and 



39 

I served for several months as a member of that Senate ; and 
I am prepared to say, sir, that in my time I have seen many 
parliamentary assemblies, I have assisted in the business 
of many sessions of legislative bodies, I know pretty well 
their history and their character and the influence which 
they have borne upon the affairs of this country, and, while 
I have been perhaps unduly careless of my part in them, so 
far as I have been connected with them, I never have for- 
gotten what has been transacted before my eyes. And I 
remember distinctly my career and my experience in this 
regard ; and yet I take pleasure in saying that, with regard to 
the variety of the interests discussed, the novelty of ques- 
tions, the power brought into the discussion of these ques- 
tions in the Senate of Massachusetts, where, in 1874, I was 
a member, that I would be better pleased to have preserved 
my record in that session than any other part of my life. I 
should feel more secure and more satisfied with my public 
service in that record as Senator from the Second Middlesex 
District in 1874, as much so at least as any other part of my 
public life ; and I appreciate, therefore, from my experience, 
the truth of much that has been said by gentlemen in regard 
to that service. 

One reason of this is that in the Senate of Massachusetts 
legislative debate is exactly what it should be, — directed to 
the question, discussed by men who have made themselves 
acquainted with its merits, who know by experience what 
has been done in the past, and by good judgment what 
should be done in the future, and thus bring to every ques- 
tion that is adopted and decided in this body to which we 
have all referred a judgment as perfect as man can bring to 
the decision of any public legislation. I have seen many 
assemblies of this character elsewhere, I have taken part in 
many legislative sessions, and I have never known any place 
where debate has been so exactly what legislative debate 
should be as in the Senate of Massachusetts ; and I am 
happy, sir, to have had the opportunity of saying thus much. 
Our influence upon our country, and to some extent upon 
the world itself, has been moulded and has been produced 



40 

by legislation of this character, and by the services of 
public men of the character I have described ; and I trust 
the Legislature of Massachusetts will hereafter continue in 
the hands of the same class of men, and be directed to the 
same great interests of liberty and justice, until the princi- 
ples of the legislation of this State shall prevail in every 
part of the world, and characterize and bless the people of 
every portion of the earth. [Applause.] 

The President. — We have one with us who has been an 
honor to the State by his clear decisions and straightforward 
character. I have the pleasure of now presenting to you 
Speaker Noyes, of the House. [Applause.] 

ADDRESS OF HON. CHARLES J. NOYES. 

Mr. President, — At such a time and in such a presence 
as this, any one may rise with reluctance to respond for any 
body in which he had the honor of a seat ; and more 
especially might he hesitate to speak, following the dis- 
tinguished gentlemen who have already addressed those 
present, whose bright, shining sickles never leave anything 
to be gleaned by those who follow in their rear. 

Looking back, Mr. President, over the mists of fifteen 
years, recalling the honored names of my associates in the 
Senate of 1867, I might well hesitate and feel grieved that 
this task had not fallen to abler hands than mine. I 
remember very well the brief experience I had in the 
Senatorial branch of the government. I remember the 
honored names of my associates, who have added very much 
to the glory and reputation of this good old Commonwealth. 
I remember the sad duty that Senate had to perform 
of following to his honored but untimely grave the 
distinguished gentleman who presided over our delibera- 
tions, whose grace, whose dignity, whose handsome presence 
no member of the Senate of 1866 can live long enough to 
forget, a man whose loss this Commonwealth might well 
lament for all time to come, — Hon, Joseph A. Pond. And 
I remember at his right hand sat the warm-hearted, the 



41 

genial, and accomplished gentleman, who afterward was 
called to be a successor in his office ; and upon his left, a 
gentleman, who to-day, in the advanced years of his life, 
still holds undisputed sway upon the floor of the popular 
assembly of the Legislature. I remember the distinguished 
merchant of Springfield, Mr. Alexander, and all the other 
associates ; but time fails me to repeat their names, who 
at that time served with distinction, and have added new 
laurels as the years have gone on to the glory they then 
acquired. That Senate is a matter of the past. Its conflicts 
have ended, the tumult of its voices is silent ; but, however 
so much, Mr. President, we may have disagreed upon other 
questions, we always cordially agreed in extending our 
esteem, our grateful recognition, and our heart-felt thanks 
to the genial, the companionable, and assisting Clerk, who 
did so much for our comfort and our convenience in 
promoting the public business of that year. [Applause.] 
It has been truly said, it seems to me, that, " though the 
head may whiten, the heart keeps young and fresh." And 
so it is with Mr. Gifford. I cannot help comparing him 
to that scene the traveller finds among the Alps, — when 
the glaciers glitter overhead, beneath are the wild flowers, 
blooming sweetly in the spring, scattering their fragrance 
on the frosty air. [Applause.] 

So, Mr. President, while I regret that the duty of speaking 
for the Senate of 1867 has not been committed to the charge 
of a much abler person, I am yet happy to come here to- 
night in a humble way to add my felicitations to yours and 
my associates at this table, and to assist in rendering the 
esteem and honor which Mr. Gifford deserves from every 
man who ever had occasion to have official relations with 
him in public life. And so, with tearful remembrance of 
the dead and kindliest esteem for the living, I bring to him 
to-night the good words that would be spoken by lips that 
are silent had they the power, and the kindly words that 
would be brought here by the living who are absent ; and, 
should he call the roll of the Senate of 1867, every one 
would vote, "Yea," in honor of him. [Applause.] 



42 

The President. — It is now time that we heard from the 
western part of the State. We always hear good news from 
the Connecticut Valley. Among the honored names from 
that part of the State is one who served in the Senate, who 
has been offered higher positions, and yet, with a modesty 
peculiar to him, he has refused them, — not even allowing 
himself to be sent to Congress, which is a remarkable thing. 
We shall be very glad to hear from him. We recognize the 
fact that there are two parties in the Senate, though I do 
not hear anything of them in your speeches. We shall be 
very glad to hear from the Hon. George M. Stearns, of Chic- 
opee. [Applause.] 

ADDRESS OF HON. GEORGE M. STEARNS. 

Mr. President, — I am very happy indeed you have called 
upon me to-night ; for I am very glad of the opportunity to 
bring my chaplet, even though it be of modest river roses 
and daisies, and lay it at the feet of our honored guest. I 
am also happy on my own account. I am glad to be able 
even for a fleeting moment to rescue from the shadow of 
forgetfulness the fact that I, too, have been a Senator of 
Massachusetts. [Applause.] During the "late unpleasant- 
ness " between the two sections of this country, as Major of 
the Home Guards [laughter] I so brilliantly conducted the 
prudent art of self-defence by the avoidance of danger [re- 
newed laughter] that, at the close of the war, I was swept by 
a grateful people upon the waves of military popularity into 
the Senate Chamber [laughter and applause] ; and ever since 
that time, like many another martial hero, my name and 
fame have been folded beneath oblivion's dusky wave. 
[Laughter.] 

In 1871, I came to the Massachusetts Senate with the 
average qualifications of a Massachusetts Senator; that is 
to say, I knew nothing of my duties or the method of their 
performance. [Applause and laughter.] I joined with those 
in the Senate in like situation, and we constituted a major- 
ity of the number, [Renewed laughter.] Of course, under 
these circumstances, we resorted to the Clerk. We be- 



43 

leaguered his leisure, we invaded his privacy, we intruded 
upon his quiet, we interrupted his labor, we smote his ears 
with questions, we besieged his private working-room, we 
overturned his spittoon, we gobbled his snuff, we took his 
fragrant Havanas, manufactured from Sufifield seconds. 
[Laughter.] But, during all this, we found the same oblig- 
ing, generous, genial, patient, pleasant Clerk that many a 
Massachusetts Senator had found before, and many a Massa- 
chusetts Senator has found since. 

Nature never deceives. She makes the ceaseless murmur 
of the sea and tossing foam declare the rocks beneath the 
waters ; and so she always surmounts an honest heart with 
a noble face. I recollect at one time, as Clerk Gifford sat 
at his desk overlooking his charge with a benign gaze, his 
countenance illuminated with the light within, that I noticed 
a Democratic brother of mine at the Senate bar who sat 
watching, with worshipful wonder, the transfigured Clerk. 
Chancing at that time to desire to make a quotation in a 
speech I was about to make, I turned to Senator Parks, of 
Suffolk, who was the acknowledged authority in the Senate 
upon all Scriptural matters [laughter], and I said to him, 
"Bill, who composed the Lord's prayer.!*" [Laughter.] 
" Why," says he, " Gifford." [Loud and uproarious laughter.] 
Says I, "That can't be so : he is not so old as that, is he.-*" 
[Renewed laughter.] But I saw from the look he gave me 
that his faith and trust were so deep and implicit that they 
were not to be shaken, even by the contradiction of one of 
the unterrified faith. So I left him, and abandoned the 
fruitless endeavor. 

Mr. President, I am happy to say that the retrospect that 
our friend Gifford has is one that is rarely granted to man, 
— twenty-five years of public service without a stain ; twenty- 
five years of association with six hundred exacting Senators 
without a jar ; twenty-five years of public labors without a 
mistake ! Long may the Commonwealth be spared the able 
head, the honest heart, and the indefatigable hand of the 
Senate Clerk. [Applause.] 



44 

The President. — Gentlemen, I have succeeded so well 
in going to the valleys, I think I will try again, and seek a 
man from the valley of the Merrimack, one who comes from 
the city of Lawrence, and which the gentleman has made 
famous, — Mr. Tarbox, who is known all through the land. 
[Applause.] 

ADDRESS OF HON. JOHN K. TARBOX. 

Mr. President, — Did I essay to speak the praises of our 
guest, I could but iterate what has been already most fitly 
and gracefully spoken. This distinguished and representa- 
tive company met to grace his public service with their ap- 
probation is the occasion's best orator. For a quarter of a 
century, the recorder, by annual election, of the transactions 
of the most dignified legislative body of the State, approved 
for integrity, capacity, and the agreeable qualities which win 
esteem by the judgment of twenty-five successive Senates, 
Mr. Gifford can need no fairer testimonial of the accepta- 
bility of his labors. Although, during that period, the polit- 
ical party of his sympathies has controlled the Senate 
organization, yet we here can testify with unanimous voice 
that his repeated election has not been due to partisan favor 
or in payment of partisan services, or to any servility on his 
part, but to a just estimate of his worth as a man and official. 
That Massachusetts delights to honor such as he in her 
places of trust is creditable to our good Commonwealth ; and 
I am sure I may command all your voices in the sentiment 
that, if the same test and spirit of selection obtained in all 
the departments of public administration, there would exist 
no such occasion as now unfortunately does exist for people 
and statesmen to agitate the evils and needs and methods 
of reform in the civil service. We do well and worthily, I 
think, sir, to bestow our plaudits generously in praise and 
encouragement of conscientious fidelity in our public ser- 
vants at a season when the decadence of the nice sense of 
duty and responsibility in public trusts excites general 
solicitude. 

One quality of Mr. Gifford, displayed in my intercourse 



45 

with him while a member of the Senate, I recall with agree- 
able sensibility. He never made me feel the ignominy of 
my disreputable politics. [Laughter.] Whatever his thoughts 
were, he considerately kept them to himself, and used me as 
fairly and courteously as though I were a good Republican 
and a veritable man and brother. [Renewed laughter.] 
Indeed, for aught I was able to discover, he served me as 
acceptably in that relation as would even a fellow-disciple 
of the faith of our Democratic apostle, Jefferson. That 
kindly memory, sir, and the gracious atmosphere of this 
delightful political truce, inspire in me the sentiment which 
I venture to express, that the asperities of our politics may 
soften and yield to a broader tolerance and a larger charity, 
and our party contentions dignify into a patriotic emulation 
as to which can worthiest serve the common welfare and 
advance the reputation of our State and the beneficence of 
the Republic. [Applause.] I heartily unite with this goodly 
company in wishing Mr. Gifford continued length of happy 
life and useful public service. [Applause.] 

In the temporary absence of the President of the even- 
ing, Hon. Robert R. Bishop, who had taken the chair, called 
upon the Hon. J. M. S. Williams, of Cambridge, as a dis- 
tinguished member of the Senate, and a gentleman who 
had rendered important service in the public affairs of the 
country. 

ADDRESS OF HON. J. M. S. WILLIAMS. 

I join in all that has been said, Mr. President, in regard 
to Mr. Gifford, and my association with him in the Senate 
will ever be pleasant to remember; but I will not occupy 
time at this late hour of the evening. 

Mr. Bishop. — Gentlemen, allow me to call upon Mr. 
Fuller, of Westfield, a member of the Senate whom I very 
well remember when I was myself a member of the House 
of Representatives. 



46 

ADDRESS OF HON. HENRY FULLER. 

Mr. President, — I had supposed the speakers of the even- 
ing had all been selected. I cannot make any extended 
remarks here this evening. I can only add to what has been 
said in behalf of my friend, Mr. Gifford, with whom I had 
the pleasure to serve three years, 1868, 1874, and 1875, that 
he was always the courteous gentleman that he has been 
represented to be here this evening; and, though I had the 
misfortune to belong to the minority party, as my friend Mr. 
Tarbox said, I never saw any discrimination on his part with 
reference to any member of the Senate during the three 
years which I had the honor of serving in that body. I 
always voted for Brother Gifford ; and I presume I always 
should, if I was re-elected to that honorable position on any 
future occasion. 

Mr. Gifford is very happy in the administration of his 
duties, from what he stated to you this evening of what 
qualities should characterize a public officer. Though he 
has belonged to the predominant party of the State, he has 
always been elected in part by the votes of the minority ; 
for, if a part of the majority becomes disaffected with a clerk 
or any other officer, he is easily thrown out of office, if the 
minority are also dissatisfied. But he so discharged his 
duties that he always served the minority and served the 
majority also. I trust, as has been said here to-night, that 
he will serve as long as he desires to serve, and I have no 
doubt that he will. His make-up is such that he will serve 
as long as he is able to serve ; and, from his appearance here 
to-night, which is about the same as when I entered the 
Senate, in 1868, I think he may serve twenty-five years 
longer. [Applause.] 

The President (who had resumed the chair). — Gentle- 
men, I am reminded the hour is getting somewhat late, 
especially for Senators. There are many we should desire 
to hear from, if we had time ; but, by the advice of those 
having charge of the meeting, and with great reluctance, I 
now declare it closed. 




^^M^ 



